This blog is a great opportunity to share ideas about ways to
transform schooling as we know it, to help all students realise their
talents, passions and dreams. Be great to hear from anyone out there! Feel free to add a comment to Bruce's Blog and enter e-mail to receive postings

Friday, October 18, 2013

Educational Readings - learning styles, innovation, project based learning and more. Pass on to other teachers to read

‘In this article I want to set out the issues over which
teachers are in dispute, and around which their action is focused. These
are issues of workload, pay and pensions, but at the heart of the conflict is
the effective dismantling of a national framework of teachers’ pay and
conditions of service. On their

own, the changes currently being
implemented by government represent an attack on teachers’ entitlements on an
unprecedented scale. However, I want to argue that the changes being imposed
are pivotal to the government’s wider objective of reconfiguring public
education in England as a largely privatised system. Central to achieving this
objective is the creation of a low-cost, flexible and fragmented workforce
without the organisational capacity to challenge dominant policy agendas.’

‘Testucators are now deliberately using their debased version of the language of learning , their pseudo-technical woo, in order to
destroy schooling’s cognitive base. They use words like ‘achievement’,
‘improved performance’, ‘better outcomes’ as they universally describe the
mechanical, robotically contrived, useless results from deceptively unreliable
and invalid testing programs. They talk educational gibberish using PISA-style
measurement bullshit. At no time in the history of GERM countries has schooling
been so debased; its teachers devalued and abused by flat-earth policies,
miseducated ‘experts’ and test-publishing profiteers.’

This follows on from the article by George
Mondiot in last week’s readings. While not strictly educational, this article
does provide a comprehensive set of suggestions for how technology and outdoor
activities can be blended together - useful when planning outdoor education
programmes!

‘As a
parent and educator (I make the distinction, but all parents are educators) I
always struggled with finding the right balance between my son’s screen time vs
other activities. While some children are deprived of ‘wild time’ connected to
nature, so too are some children deprived of important ‘screen time’ to
technology. Wild and screen time are often pitched against each other in a
simplistic and dichotomised way, but the reality is far more complex.’

‘The scientific research on learning styles is “so weak
and unconvincing,” concluded a group of distinguished psychologists in a 2008 review,
that it is not possible “to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments
into general educational practice.” A 2010 article was even more blunt: “There
is no credible evidence that learning styles exist…”’

‘The theory became highly popular with K-12 educators
around the world seeking ways to reach students who did not respond to
traditional approaches, but over time, “multiple intelligences” somehow became
synonymous with the concept of “learning styles.” In this important post,
Gardner explains why the former is not the latter.’

‘Learning
new things means admitting that we are not experts in all areas and that we are
willing to improve our learning agility. Yes, we all have great excuses why we
don’t learn new things (if we are willing to be honest)! But, here is the
reality: the rate and intensity of innovation is directly related to our
agility and willingness to learn.’

‘Authenticity
-- we know it works! There is research to support the value of authentic
reading and writing. When students are engaged in real-world problems,
scenarios and challenges, they find relevance in the work and become engaged in
learning important skills and content.’